The hurdle that stands between you and WhatsApp is quite small. All you need is a phone number and a reasonably modern smartphone. In other, totalitarian countries, however, use may be blocked under certain circumstances. At least that’s how it was until now.
WhatsApp is considered the top dog among instant messaging services in many countries . And that is also the case in Germany. While some competitors, such as Telegram and Signal, are claiming more and more market share, the difference in user numbers is still huge. In other countries, however, other messengers are preferred. Sometimes with a view to usage behavior – Apple iPhones and consequently the iMessage are very popular in the USA . But sometimes because you have no other choice. Because in some countries WhatsApp (and other messenger services) is blocked. But now the WhatsApp blocking has come to an end.
NEW WHATSAPP FEATURE BYPASSES INTERNET BLOCKS
WhatsApp users who have the latest version installed can now use proxy support built into the official app. This is to be used when the government blocks the usual method of communication. If you access the new function, the data flow will be directed via a proxy server with a location in another country and communication with the outside world should work again. The corresponding menu can be found under Settings > Storage and data > Proxy settings. And not only in the two Android and iOS apps, but also on the web and the desktop app.
Important: The external proxy servers are not provided by WhatsApp. Victims must look online for one of the many servers provided by volunteers and organizations. Then you only have to enter the IP address of the proxy server in the submenu provided for this purpose.
THE BIG CATCH
In contrast to normal communication, users must explicitly trust the provider of the proxy server. Because although the actual communication is still end-to-end encrypted according to WhatsApp, the operator of the server can at least see your IP address and draw conclusions about your identity from it. For this reason, it may be a better option to obfuscate the data transfer using one of the more well -known VPN services instead. However, more trustworthy VPNs usually come with a fee.
